CFL commissioner Steward Johnston

The UFL appears to be in disarray following the league’s announcement of major changes for the 2026 season. Over the past two weeks, many front office personnel from the United Football League have been let go due to performance metrics not being met in local markets. Michigan, Houston, Memphis, and Birmingham are going to lose their teams, and the 4 new locations mentioned are Columbus, Ohio, Boise, Idaho, Kentucky, and Florida. These moves were necessary since the markets were failing with crowd size and ticket sales, especially in Memphis, which had the lowest attendance in the league. It signals the instability ever since the USFL and XFL merged in 2025.

Meanwhile, St. Louis has displayed wildly disproportionate support for its Battlehawks, who came into existence with the renewal of the XFL in 2020. While attendance dropped slightly team led the league in attendance, averaging 28,000 this season at The Dome at America’s Center this past season. Which begs the question, will 2026 be the last year of the UFL, and will it mean the end of Professional Football in St. Louis? Perhaps or perhaps not, Last year, The Sports Network Football Insider Dave Naylor suggested, ” If the UFL fails, I think it would behoove the CFL to add a team in St. Louis.”

To add fuel to the fire, new Canadian Football League commissioner Stewart Johnston told a local sports radio in Canada, The Sports Cage, that if an ownership group from St. Louis came forward and showed they have a proper plan for franchise stability, he would listen.

“We can’t keep shutting the door and saying no to things just because that’s what we have been accustomed to doing in the past, Johnston said. “Saying no can’t be a reactionary response to everything.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that the Canadian Football League has explored the idea of expanding to the United States and St. Louis. Right after the Football Cardinals moved to Arizona, in 1988, the CFL expressed interest in potentially expanding the league to St. Louis as one of the possible cities for consideration. The league expanded in 1993 with the introduction of the Sacramento Gold Miners.  They would relocate to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1995 CFL Season and be rebranded as the San Antonio Texans, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Shreveport, Birmingham, and Memphis. All of those franchises ended up folding, while the Baltimore franchise had success by winning the Grey Cup title in 1995, but moved to Montreal after the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens.

 The future of the UFL is very cloudy due to the lack of attendance and the major shift in moving 4 teams to new cities. Like Baltimore between 1994 and 1995, St. Louis would be a blessing for the Canadian Football League. The Fans in St. Louis have proved that they are football fans first by supporting the NFL, XFL, and now the UFL. While fans in Canada would be disappointed in the league expanding to the U.S., with all the negative political back and forth, it will give the League larger TV ratings from the Midwest region, along with traveling fans from St. Louis, and it would be more money for the CFL.